Quintessa rests a hand on the newborn maple’s trunk, admiration clear in her eyes. "That is a beautiful gift, Scarlet. One Day I expect you’ll coax a whole grove from stone."
Teela’s leg‑day quip earns the bard a quick, arched‑brow stare that says behave.
"Coordination is more than calves and cardio, my friend." she chides gently before turning back to Alvis. "I’m neither the fleetest blade nor the stoutest shield, yet with a little planning I can open a fight to everyone’s advantage. Let’s measure our strengths, not race them."
Graham cocks an eyebrow at Velas. I've long subscribed to the theory that a dead enemy is better than a live one. What you call "hasty" I call "prudence."
Still, one can't dispute the wisdom of a more coordinated assault.
"Hasty was the incorrect choice of phrase. My apologizes, Graham. I mainly said that to remind myself to avoid running off without the support the group. I forget that sometimes."
Quintessa rests a hand on the newborn maple’s trunk, admiration clear in her eyes. "That is a beautiful gift, Scarlet. One Day I expect you’ll coax a whole grove from stone."
Teela’s leg‑day quip earns the bard a quick, arched‑brow stare that says behave.
"Coordination is more than calves and cardio, my friend." she chides gently before turning back to Alvis. "I’m neither the fleetest blade nor the stoutest shield, yet with a little planning I can open a fight to everyone’s advantage. Let’s measure our strengths, not race them."
A couple of minutes later, The Scarlet Knight stops concentrating on his connection to the woodlands, and the maple slowly shrinks out of existence -- not withering, just inexplicably growing smaller until it retreats back into the ground of the inhospitable cavern floor, almost as if it remembered it shouldn't be growing there. The red maple leaves also vanish, ephemeral.
He can't help but let out a smile at Quintessa's admiring look -- he'd almost forgotten to appreciate the unusual gift for the sake of wonder, alone.
Alvis wonders about Scarlet's arboreal gifts. It does not seem to be divine, given the little he knows about the new champion's patron deity. And its not like any druid he have ever seen. So the priest is at a loss, and will just have to watch more closely in the future.
12 Pharast, Gold Ore Cave, Greenbelt, The Stolen Lands.
There is no freshly cooked Svetlana breakfast as you awaken in the gold ore-lined cavern. But you are warm, dry, and safe, and that's something. After the humidity of the day before the morphed into a thunderstorm, this morning seems like the promise of Spring might not be far away. It is sunny, bright, and mild.
Mounting the horses again after leading them out of the crevice, you head to the southeast, over the craggy hills and find there is a bit more scattered tree cover on the other side, than the grassy plains you have become familiar with. On the southern side of the space you explore for the day in fact, you notice a immense specimen of a tree. From a distance it is easily the tallest and fullest in sight, a real landmark. As you get closer, you estimate its height at over 100'. Thick gnarly roots grow out of the ground at at base of the tree making knots and pockets and clumps in all sides. the first branches, which are thicker than a man, are probably more than 25' off the ground, and ground around is littered with tan, round seed pods about the size of a child's handball.
The Scarlet Knight, back to being fully armored, walks towards the base of the root structure but not getting too close to the trunk. He squats down to examine one of the pods.
Scarlet may have never seen this kind of tree before, but he does have a strange affinity for the forest, and he recognizes these as nothing more than mundane seed pods of a sycamore tree. This great big tree is of that variety-- of which you may have heard some tale already.
Not spotted at first, but now visible from where the Knight stands, there is a small humanoid corpse near the base of the tree, its bare feet clawed feet sticking out from behind a rather large root ball.
"I spy beneath the tree a corpse.
There, where the tree's root system warps." He points.
He looks back at the party, silently inquiring if they should investigate further by ... shrugging his shoulders in an exaggerated way.
Holding up the ball-sized seed pod, he explains,
"Behold the seed of the sycamore tree.
If we plant these, we may grow ... some more ... tree."
He sighs audibly and hangs his head at his lamentable rhyme.
Quintessa reins in beside Scarlet, eyes narrowing at the gnarled roots. "A sycamore this size matches Elly’s tale. I believe we were told gremlins under a big tree east of camp. Svetlana’s ring is likely close now."
She swings down, shoulders her crossbow, and nods toward the feet. "Let’s have a careful look. Someone please stay alert for a trap so we don't get something dropped on us from above or something."
Velas whistles softly in surprise at the size of the tree. "Elly said the tree was large, but I assumed he was exaggerating."
Joining Scarlet, he looks around the area for signs of tracks or discarded valuables.
When Scarlet calls out in his sing-song voice that he's found a corpse, Velas motions to Alvis. "I don't have an eye for injuries. Maybe you can tell how they died."
While Alvis and anyone else look over the body, Velas keeps a wary eye on the surrounding area. "Where there's death, there's usually more."
If some people go nearer the body to investigate, Bucky will join them.
Otherwise, he’ll keep within 10’ of Quintessa.
Velas whistles softly in surprise at the size of the tree. "Elly said the tree was large, but I assumed he was exaggerating."
He was not, Graham says, taking in the full measure of the sycamore tree with some difficulty.
He steers clear of the body Scarlet finds, leaving ample room for others to investigate without him being an obstacle.
When Tessa mentions Svetlana's ring, Graham turns to Teela. What was it Elly said about what happened with her ring...?
Alvis is quiet on the journey to the huge tree. As the other react he heeds Velas' request and examines the corpse for sign of how he died and any other thing of interest about it.
Darkvision, Trained on body
Expert, on body.
After relay anything he learns he will look about for any trails or signs of where the lair of the takers of Svetlana's ring might be.
any trails around
Darkvision, Trained, any other signs of beings around.
The Scarlet Knight watches as Alvis examines the body. He, too, looks around to see if there are any tracks indicating how this creature got here.
"That's a big-ass tree, alright." Teela looks at the sycamore, squinting, with a hand on her forehead to shield the light of the sky. "If I were a worshipper of Erastil, I would probably revere that thing. Maybe we can find this missing brother here as well."
To Graham's question, Teela shrugs. "Well, I wasn't there since I was pilfering through "their" loot, but Velas did mention it was misplaced." She turns her head towards the magus, throwing him the ball.
She then looks at the dead creature.
The dead body here is not hard to identify, especially for those that just ran into some live specimens a few days ago. It is a black-scaled kobold, wearing l shoddy leather armor. It appears to have been filled with tiny darts at least 6 of them protrude from the corpse, which also has a deep stab wound in the back. Not far from the body, perhaps once held in its hand, is a small knife, its blade made from a strange metal that is clearly not the usual steel. The blade is chipped, notched and stained with blood.
Looking around more broadly, there are evident signs of a group of the claw-footed kobolds, and another kind of footprint moving in and out of the roots systems at the base of the tree. It looks like there was a bit of a hullabaloo here recently, with at least a dozen creatures involved. There is no evident sign of any creatures at present however.
The Scarlet Knight raises his voice to be heard, speaking to persons unseen or unknown -- if any are indeed present. He's not standing close to the tree trunk or near the body, any longer, but he tries to keep within 15' of all party members remaining there. He's now looking upward, as if addressing the great sycamore itself.
"Does any dweller here, know anything
About a fair, good maiden's purloined ring?
Its return a smile to her lips would bring."
He's not sure, but just in case ... he'll open his kinetic gate and activate his aura, allowing the thin Japanese maple to rise from the grass behind him, hovering above his horned helmet at a full 10' height, in the best approximation he can conjure of the colossal, ancient tree.
A couple of red maple leaves flutter about within a few feet of him.
Quintessa studyies the dart‑riddled kobold and the notched, odd knife.
"Poor little Sootscale." she murmurs, crouching to examine the wound. [b]"These gremlin creatures clearly use darts... Elly’s tale is lining up like stitch‑marks."
She stands, eyeing Scarlet’s fluttering leaves and speaking a bit louder.
"Creatures of the roots! We seek only what was stolen - a simple silver ring engraved with love. Return it, and we leave in peace. Pockets heavy with seed pods, not with steel and your treasure. We do not wish to intrude, only ask what was stolen be returned. It's clear you will protect your territorty, hwoever, if we are attacked we will engage in return."
Teela looks around in silence for a while. Since there is nobody responding, she sighs. "Maybe we should walk around it and search for something that would resemble a tunnel or entrance? This feels like shouting at a fortress wall."
Velas looks at Scarlet and Quintessa in surprise as they talk to the woods. "Do you expect the trees to talk to you? I sure hope not!"
Teela seems to speak more plainly, at least to Velas "Elly did say that something lived underground. There must be an entrance somewhere."
Velas doesn't immediately walk away though, and instead waits to make sure the group stays together.
Alvis tells all he learned. He points at the blade from the dead kobold saying, "This blade is unusual, I can't tell what it is made of." He casts a spell.
After he discloses the result he says, "A struggle with a least a dozen involved, there are trails about from somethings not kobolds. They are all about the tree's roots. If there is an entrance that is where it likely is."
Alvis replies to Velas, "There are followers of nature gods that can talk to trees." Dryly he continues, "From what I have heard they don't have much to say." Looking at the large tree and Sir Scarlet's tree he says, "Weirdly, talking to a tree could actually help. Not in my master's gifts. Let's check the roots."
Alvis proceeds to do just that.
There is no answer to the calls to the tree, and nothing visible as you scan for any remaining creatures. And nothing responds as Scarlet summons a small maple tree near the sycamore.
Alvis' detection spell on the fallen kobolds knife reveals no magic on the blade but he thinks it might have special properties. Though Alvis has never seen an adamantium blade, he has heard of them, and this just might be one, though it is fashioned from a clumsy and poorly crafted kobold blade.
Setting out in search of some opening near the sycamore's base, Alvis is soon rewarded. About 30 degrees around the trunk, there is a cleverly hidden opening, a root-lined shaft really, which descends at least 10' into darkness. The opening is only large enough that a small creature could fit rather easily. A medium creature, like a man or a dwarf, may have to squeeze to descend. The roots on either side of the shaft make climbing down at a controlled speed somewhat more likely.
The Scarlet Knight takes his helm off and tucks it under one arm. His head as usual is wrapped in a red cloth cowl, covering his hair and his lower face.
He points a finger as he begins to speak, but then says simply,
"Not it."
Alvis says, "Here it is, a hidden enterence. It's a tight squeeze but doable and the roots look useful for climbing. I'll take a little closer look."
Alvis plants his feet carefully and holding on to a root and peers down the shaft. He should see until the bottom or where the shaft twists, unless there is magical darkness.
He'll share what he learns.
"You sure you'll be able to climb back with those thin legs, Alvis?"
Chuckling, Teela pulls out a rope and starts making knots every two feet or so.
Velas looks in between the vines and roots, shrugging nonchalantly. "With Teela's rope ladder and those roots, I don't think it'll be too difficult. I'll go down first."
Velas gets on his hands and knees, peering down into the opening to see where he will end up. Once he feels confident enough that the ground isn't too far away and that a group of kobolds or worse aren't immediately visible, Velas starts the climb - remembering to cast Light on his armor first. "Whose next?" he says with a smirk.
Velas looks at Scarlet and Quintessa in surprise as they talk to the woods. "Do you expect the trees to talk to you? I sure hope not!"
Quintessa huffs. An almost theatrical sound. "Velas..." she starts, shaking her head.
"No. I don’t expect the oak to answer in perfect Taldane. But every patch of old forest in these lands has eyes. Sprites, gremlins, or worse. Polite words cost nothing, and sometimes the unseen listeners leave their spears un‑poisoned if you show a little courtesy, less you find darts shot into you with a knifewound in your back."
She points at the large tree as if punctuating the point "I was speaking to them, not the bark."
---
When descedning, she kneels at the edge, crossbow ready, waiting for Velas’s report. She has no intention of going in the first group. She waits until half the group is down and then asks for assistance as she descends.
The Scarlet Knight crosses his arms over his chest, letting out a sigh as he looks at Quintessa and Teela.
"Your very small band seeks much from a man,
And although I've not got a good feeling
An oath was sworn, so I'll stick to the plan ...
But Alvis, be ready with more healing?"
If Graham or Alvis don't go before him, he follows Velas down the newly knotted rope, the helmet now back on his head.
Meanwhile, on the surface, Teela finishes with the rope ladder, ties the thing to one of the nearby roots, and heads over to tie down the horses and drop some feed on the ground for them. Then she returns to the tunnel and squeezes into the thing.
The root-lined shaft drops about 10' to a the middle of a long earthen tunnel. You can see the dirt floor below, especially with Velas' illuminating spell. The magus drops down the 10' using the roots to control the descent, and lands feet first. The tunnel he ends up is very low-ceilinged, no more than 5' anywhere, and in some places even less. The uppermost foot of head-room is filled with tangles of roots, fungus, or low clearances. The tunnel appears to lead down in both directions, east and west, so that the exit shaft where Velas stands is the higher than the rest. The hallway is not smooth-floored but more terraced or scalloped with the tunnels gradually, and the low ceilings following suit.
There is no other light source in these tunnels, but Velas' spell does a fine job illuminating the space around him (but also marking is location pretty clearly for any observers).
The tunnel is at least as long in either direction as the light spell allows vision, so there is plenty of room for the whole party to descend if you wish, though the headroom will clearly be an issue.
<3
"Ah yes, sweat AND soil. What a lovely combination." Teela looks around after descending and sees two tunnels. She draws some glyphs in the air, and a handheld harp materialises out of a puff of mist. She grabs the thing and plays a few simple notes. "Eeenie, meenie, miny, mo?"
The Scarlet Knight tilts his head at Teela's statement.
He whispers at her, "This place is more 'cavey' than it is 'miney'." He pauses. "Who's this Moe, the meanie?"
Alvis addresses Lady Quintessa, "I'll assist you mi'Lady. Pehaps loop a rope around you carefully, and you hang on it for comfort, and I can support you as you go down." After he carefully lowers Lady Quintessa down he will follow, id she consents.
Quintessa nods at Alvis’s suggestion, slinging her crossbow and looping the rope about her waist. "Careful, Brother. One good tug and you’ll have me dangling like a chandelier." she jokes.
Once Alvis has the line she eases over, lowering herself until she she lands beside Velas.
She thanks Alvis for his assistance and then casts a quick look west then east down the dim tunnel. "Lovely. Duck your heads, gentlefolk. It seems heroics in these parts are performed at a stoop."
"It's..." Teela turns her head to Bucky and tilts it to the side. She seems inquisitive and amused. "Oh, you're pulling my leg.", her expression changes into a smile as she creates a few motes of light to hover near Everyone but Alvis and Velas.
She then looks back at Bucky to check his reaction.
"It's..." Teela turns her head to Bucky and tilts it to the side. She seems inquisitive and amused. "Oh, you're pulling my leg.", her expression changes into a smile as she creates a few motes of light to hover near Everyone but Alvis and Velas.
She then looks back at Bucky to check his reaction.
” Wouldst I, a knight, ever yank Teela’s limb?
Surely not! Couldn’t be me, I’m not him.But meanie Bucky, mine-y tree,
On second thought … yes, that could be.”
"Yeah." Teela hushes a chuckle. "We may need to iron out a few kinks, but with jokes like that, we're going to get along fine."
She looks around again, and pulls out a piece of chalk. "Anyone has a preference in terms of direction?"
"Let the leader choose,
Since on the frontline they'll face
Greatest peril first." He motions to Velas, asking what direction he feels they should take.
Quietly, Bucky whispers to Teela, "'Iron out', eh? Is that an armor pun?"
Velas chuckles and smirks as Scarlet refers to him as a leader. "Just because I'm the first one to climb down doesn't mean I'm the leader. Looks the same either way to me. May as well flip a coin."
Velas pulls a single copper from his pouch and flips into the air, plucking it out of the air but stopping short of showing the result. "Crowns is east. Swords is west." Velas waits a moment to see if anyone objects to picking direction this way before revealing the result.
The tossed coin comes up Swords, so unless someone objects, Velas heads west down the very low tunnel, trying to be careful of banging his head on the hanging roots, fungus or other obstructions. The earthen tunnel descends slowly in terrace-like steps downwards as you head west. Light from Velas and Teela gives the delvers plenty of illumination as they progress.
After about 20' of miserable progress down the cramped passageway, Velas hears something coming from ahead of him. At least two small shrill voices call out to each other whether in pain or mirth, it is hard to say, but they cackle and moan without caution, not yet sensing the oncoming party.
Graham brings up the rear, shaking his head in the darkness at the banter. It's a wonder the whole gremlin tribe doesn't know we're here by now..., he thinks to himself, distracted enough that he nearly strikes his head on a massive root before ducking out out the way at the last moment. Not the most pleasant of smells, either.
The Scarlet Knight wields his shield, but has no weapon in his hand at this time. Still, the shield is a comforting, reassuring presence. He continues to move slowly behind Velas and Teela.
"Shh, shh. Quiet." Teela shushes everyone and listens in on the conversation. "They seem to be playing some kind of game."
"I'll try to talk to them." She takes a breath, dusts herself off, and slowly walks around the corner with her hands visible.
Alvis walks behind Tessa peeking side to side as to what ahead. Hearing a slight breathy grunt behind he turns and see Graham's head just slide under the root, the Alvis had walked under without a thought. Alvis is about to say sorry when Teela speaks, so he shrugs an apology and turns to see the results of Teela's strange speech. After seeing the carnage outside, Alvis prepares for a poor reception readying to cast his benediction.
Staying quiet, Velas uses Teela's attempt at talking to these creatures as an opportunity to hide and stay out of sight. He squeezes into the nook that's out of view and tries to blend into the roots and other foliage.